Violence is a widespread international problem with biological, psychological, social and environmental roots and serious health consequences (WHO, 2002). This research fits into an Ecological Framework that includes national, community, household/family, and individual realms. An Injury Surveillance System newly developed by World Health Organization for resource poor settings will be established at the mortuary of Tanzania's major referral hospital. Data (including age, sex, place of occurrence, residence, and occupation) on all the homicide deaths of Dares Salaam will be collected for year 2005. The families of those who died will be matched to neighbor controls (by age and sex) that did not experience a violent death. They will be interviewed through a Household Survey to gather information about: i) socio-economic status and ii) the quantity and cohesiveness of their interfaces with other individuals, families, and community institutions. Then, a sub-sample will be interviewed in-depth about: i) their perceptions of the violence that manifests in their lives, ii) contextual factors that risk or protect, and iii) culturally appropriate ways of decreasing violence and increasing well-being at the individual, family and community realms. [unreadable] [unreadable]